Dreadful
by kbldcstark
Summary: Harry Potter is the forgotten twin. Unknowingly manipulated by Voldemort, Harry will become powerful enough to stop those who defy him.Dark!Harry. WBWL
1. Chapter 1

Dreadful

Chapter One: The Beginning

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they are owned by the almighty J.K. Rowling, and I have no intentions of earning any profit from what I hope to be a fantastic story :).**

 **Godric's Hallow October 31** **st** **, 1981**

Red eyes shined through the darkness.

They were looking, searching for the house, the address.

When he spotted it he chuckled and muttered under his breath, "Wormtail, you have done well."

He began to move towards the house, the Potters were fools to choose Wormtail of all people to be their secret keeper. He had the least backbone of all the people he knew! Another deep chuckle rose out from his throat. When he reached the door, he sent a killing curse at it. The door splintered then shook and finally it shattered like it was made of sand that blew away in the wind. His ears picked up movement to his right. He woke somebody up and they weren't in the master bedroom, but rather the living room. Somebody else was watching the boy tonight.

When they came into sight he bellowed with humor, "What do we have here? A squib watching the Potter boy?" There was a screech of surprise, then a whimper of fear at his sight. He laughed again. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with two words, " _Avada Kedavra_." She fell like the sack of potatoes she was. Another hearty chuckle at her ragdoll-like fall. He began to climb the stairs to the boy's room. His trusted spy Severus had informed him of the prophecy, something idiotic about some child "born as the seventh month dies" was going to kill him. He would prove that divination was a fallacy of a subject to make weak witches and wizards seem impressive. He came to two rooms. He looked left and right trying to figure which one would include a small child in it. Then he had an idea. " _Sonorus_ ", he spoke with his wand to his throat. He felt the magic surge into his vocal cords. Then he yelled.

"Where are you boy?" There was crying from his right. 'There you are' he thought. He canceled the flow of magic to his throat, and entered the room. What he saw surprised him. There were two boys in the room, twins, how delightful. He knew he would end up killing both in this circumstance, but which first? He examined both boys, one had hazel eyes and a mousy reddish-brown mop of hair with a delighted look in it's eye like all small children in the presence of new company. The other though, had brilliant glowing emerald eyes showing power with raven black hair, and an intelligent look in its eyes. This one was powerful, so very powerful. He would give this one the respect of dying first.

He rose his wonderfully pale yew wand, and spoke his two favorite words _Avada Kedavra_ , he watched as the spell traveled through the air, and in the time it traveled, he noticed the similarities of the hues of the boy's eyes and the spell. The spell hit and he smiled, then scowled when the spell didn't dissipate as he expected it to, but instead pooled around the boy's forehead, he scowled. He had made a mistake. He could feel the tearing of his very being as his soul was ripped from the burnt crisp that was his body. He felt hands of magic touch his soul. They pulled, and took a piece of him out. He made a _**Horcrux**_ _by accident._ His sixth _Horcrux_ by accident.

The gravity of the situation hit him, and as he flew away he was already plotting how to use this to his advantage.While flying away he noticed two things. He noticed the appearance of two extremely worried Potters, and he noticed that the entire side of the house that the boys had been on collapsed, but left The Intelligent One untouched. The other boy had rubble over his crib.

 **XXXX**

James and Lily Potter were at a Halloween party with Arabella watching their children when James felt a tingle in the wards. Somebody had entered the house without their permission. They navigated through the jungle of people cutting down any attempts at conversation like vine with a simple cutting curse. They reached the exit to the ministry, and prepared to floo to the Bagshot residence, because they had not connected their fireplace to the floo network. Why would they when it would defeat the purpose of going into hiding? If somebody could just speak the words 'Potter Residence' into the fireplace, and show up at their house they wouldn't be very hidden, would they? As soon as they reached the house they yelled a quick sorry for intruding, and that they were only passing through. When they exited the house, and saw their own, Lily began to weep hysterically.

They both took off in a run to the house. They noticed the splinters of wood all over the floor, and realized it had been blown down. Next they noticed the limp body of Abrella Figg, but none of it mattered as they raced to their children, The Potters were hoping, no praying that their children were alive and well no matter the odds against such a hope. Upon reaching the twins' room Lily screamed, and forgot about her magic as she pried hopelessly at the rubble over her beloved son. She screeched in mourning, "Jimmy! No, No, NO!" Just then there was crying from in front of her, and behind her. She heard James say Harry was fine, except upon further examination he had an oddly shaped scar on his forehead.

James turned not having look at the other side of the room yet, he yelled, " _Wingardium Leviosa_!" The rubble all flew off the crib at once to reveal a crying James Evan Potter or Jimmy as he family like to call him. Lily rushed forward and pick up her son quickly examining him, and finding a rune shaped scar on his right cheek. It was the rune for protection, shaped roughly like a shield with a shaded circle in the middle of the shield. It was only roughly shaped like the rune, but what other explanation could there be for him surviving?

Both the Potters looked at the burnt crisp in the middle of the room, and knew that Voldemort had been defeated, but by which son. They had known that one of their sons would defeat The Dark Lord, but the prophecy never specified which one would be the Destined One. They called for Dumbledore on their magic mirror, and he apparated directly to the front of their house.

Dumbledore's figure was imposing, and his posture was proud. The Dark Lord had been defeated. He was to declare which of the Potter boys had defeated Voldemort. Upon reaching the room he could sense very powerful magic. It was emanating from everywhere and nowhere at once, the main source was the burnt crisp in the middle of the room that he quickly realized was Voldemort's body. He examined both boys, and noticed the rubble.

He saw the two scars, and it became obvious that only one could have been produced from being impacted by the killing curse. The rune for protection was obviously the boy's magic's desperate attempt to save him. It noticed the threat of the curse, and cut his skin quickly to save him. Harry must have been hit by a jagged-edged rock, and it hit him on the head creating the oddly lightning shaped scar.

He spoke clearly with pride, "I believe young James here deserves a congratulations party for his accomplishment. The wizarding world truly owes your young boy a debt!"

The Potters began to call friends in The Order to let them know the good news. All the while Harry James Potter sat in his crib forgotten.

 **XXXX**

 **Godric's Hallow July 31** **st** **1988**

"Mommy, Mommy! There are so many people here, I've gotten so many presents!", cried the small redhead.

"I know you have Jim, but we are going to have to split some of your presents between you and your brother.", sighed Lily.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! That's not fair, all these people want to give these presents to me not HIM!", The boy whined.

A tall black haired man walked by, "Honey," he said wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulder, "Let him keep them, Harry's gotten plenty from Remus and Sirius this year."

In the back of the party sitting under a tree, book behind his back, and thoughts streaming through his head. The green canopy above him providing shade to keep the sun out of his beautiful green eyes. He sat still as stone, but for the breeze flowing through his hair. He sat pondering upon his father's seeming negligence. The pranks Jimmy had pulled on his father being blamed on Harry.

He was startled out of his thoughts when his brother's whoop of joy had spooked a bird in the tree above him causing it to fly away. Unsurprisingly he lost his train of though. He decided he would read for a while try and pass time during this nightmare of a social gathering that was his birthday. He pulled his book _Transfiguration Follies of the Nineteenth Century_ out from behind him, and began to read.He had read seven pages when he happened to look up and see Remus Lupin heading towards him. Deciding he was at a decent stopping point, he memorized his page number, and closed his book.

"Hey Harry! Happy birthday!" Remus called out.

"Yes, 'happy'." Harry replied.

"Oh come on it can't be that bad, you get to be curled up in the shade with no one bothering you with your nose in a book."

"If I wanted to be alone I'd be in the library alone. I came out here to see if there was anybody that would have an intelligent conversation with me about magical theory or any bloody thing but quidditch!"

"Harry I can talk with you about any topic you want."

"Yes, I know, but I was hoping for someone at least near my age. You know how many presents I've gotten this year? One from you, a card from Sirius, and two galleons from Mother and Father. My allowance is two galleons and it was due this month! Mother wanted to get me a gift this year, but when she was about to go get it father decided that Jimmy required _another_ extra broom! I got one real gift and it was this very book from you!"

"I… I'm sorry Harry… I didn't realize that-."

"Of course you didn't nobody does. Ever." Harry said. Harry turned to see where Jimmy was opening his presents and saw him open a brand-new Nimbus 1700 and offer his best friend Ron Weasley his old broom so they could go fly. Harry hated Ron he was a complete dunderhead, all he talked about was quidditch, and his vocabulary was most closely compared to a donkey. Well, he had one thing to look forward to. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the most prestigious school for learning magic.

 **XXXX**

 **AN: This is my first story ever, try not to be too harsh on me for my mistakes, I would like to write more of this story, if you like it favorite, and follow, or just leave a review!**

 **In this story, there will be no smut. There will eventually be some very gruesome scenes, and there will be some time skips throughout the first year to only display the important parts. Most of the story will be like this, but less so after the first year, and hopefully even less towards the end. I hope to post again soon.**

 **AN 2: I have edited this chapter a bit in hopes to make it easier to read, and have better dialogue with a bit of a better ending. I fixed quite a few mistakes that were mentioned on the fanfiction reddit post I put up to spread the word. Remember Review! It will make the story better!**

 **Thanks!**

 **-KB**


	2. Chapter 2

Dreadful

Chapter Two: Peculiar

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they are owned by the almighty J.K. Rowling, and I have no intentions of earning any profit from what I hope to be a fantastic story :).**

'' **Thoughts**

 **Diagon Alley, Ollivander's Shop, August 2** **nd** **, 1991**

The Potter family walked into the shop and were immediately greeted by a peculiar man with wide owl-like eyes that were the palest silver, sparkling as if made of moonlight, "Ah yes," said the man "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. The Potter family. Jim with facial features of his mother, and the eyes of his father, and Harry with his father's features, and mother's eyes. Lily, it feels as though it were only yesterday you were in here buying your first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to the family, "James on the other hand favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration." The man got a contemplative look in his eyes before they snapped up to the Lord Potter, "Well, I say you favored it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

As Jim stepped up to the counter, and jumped as a magical tape measure began to circle him, taking measurements of everything on his body. Ollivander appeared to not notice as he pulled several boxes from the shelves and placed them on his counter. He began to open them one after the other, each time placing the wand in Jim's hand, immediately taking it back out. Ollivander continued the cycle of pulling boxes out, opening one, pulling the wand out putting it in Jim's hand then snatching it back out, though Harry noticed that the time between the wand entering Jim's hand, and the time it was snatched back was increasing. Finally, the wandmaker pulled and old box out from a shelf in the very back of his magically expanded store, dusted it off pulled out a rather red tinted wand and put it in Jim's hand. The wand shot off an abundance of brightly colored sparks. Jim's face lit up so bright it could have illuminated a room.

"Oh, bravo! Quite the unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple… Curious, truly curious."

"What's curious?" Jim blurted.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother caused that runic scar on your cheek."

Jim looked like he was going to cower at the mention of Voldemort, but in the blink of an eye the expression was wiped off his face and replaced with a 'that's right I'm awesome' look, "Yeah," Jim started, "ol' Voldie stood no chance against my awesome might!"

Harry scoffed, "As if. I'd bet it was nothing but accidental magic that saved you. Drained you of your magic too, I'd guess."

At this point of the conversation Lily decided to join in, and dish out some facts, "Harry is right Jim. You were drained of magic for a whole week afterwards. That week was a miserable one for your father and I, you hardly stopped crying from the aches of magical exhaustion! Though I must say it was very impressive for you to do magic at such an early age; even if it did drain you of your infant sized amount of magic."

"Yes, indeed. I'd imagine it was quite impressive for him to use accidental magic at such a young age." Ollivander's face became pensive before he spoke up again, "Harry hop on up. It's time for your wand."

At that Harry hopped up to the counter, and the measure flew out from his resting place; beginning to take its measurements of Harry and his wand arm. Whilst the animated tape measure did its work Mr. Ollivander turned back to the shelves, and began to take down boxes.

When Ollivander got back he chirped, "That will do." And the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but The Old Wand Maker snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try- "

Harry tried – but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried this wand. Then the next one. He was just hoping he would be able to stop soon so he could inspect his new wand. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the counter, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – old wand, very old. Made when this shop was a wee newcomer to the alley. Before we began to use only the three main wand cores – This wand in particular is a fourteen and three quarters inch Aspen wand. Quite springy. The main peculiarity of this wand is presented in its core. This wand contains the heartstring of a particularly fierce chimera, took three men with it before it was killed that one. With this wand at your side, you'll be quite the dueler, no doubt about that."

Harry reached out and grasped the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and sparks of all colors and sizes spewed from its tip. Those in the shop could have sworn they heard some kind of roar at this moment, but convinced themselves it was just in their heads.

Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well … a curious and a peculiar wand on the same day … a very peculiar occurrence indeed …"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Peculiar … peculiar indeed …"

 **XXXX**

 **King's Cross Station, Platform 9 and ¾, September 1** **st** **, 1991**

"Okay, Mum, we'll be fine, you don't have to remind us to use soap when we wash. What else would we use?" Jim groaned.

"Boys make sure you –,"

"Let me cut you off right there Mum, I will remember to use a mouth cleaning spell on my teeth, just swirl the wand clockwise in a loose circle and incant ' _mundare dentium_ '. We'll be finedon't worry about us." Harry said.

"Junior," Started James, "make sure that you play plenty of pranks when you're at school. I wouldn't want my kid to sully the marauder reputation. Would I?"

Harry sneered at James lack of attention to him, instead he turned to his Mother, "Goodbye Mum, I'll sorely miss you."

"Bye Harry! Bye Jimmy! I'll see you at the winter holidays!" replied the boys' mother.

"Goodbye Jim, I'll expect some quality pranking stories by the holidays."

"Bye Mum! Bye Dad!" Jim hollered.

The two Potter boys boarded the beautiful scarlet engine. Once aboard the majestic _Hogwarts Express,_ the boys searched for a specific compartment, or rather one of them did, Harry was indifferent to where he sat on the train. As long as he could have a book in his hands he was alright with anywhere.

As soon as Jim had spotted his best friend, he entered the compartment, and sat across from Ron. The boys immediately launched into a conversation about Quidditch.

Harry on the other hand pulled out his book ' _Wonders of the Wand: Woods and Their Properties_ '. He had read no more than two chapters before someone rudely ripped the book from his hands. Apparently the two idiots he was sharing a compartment with had gotten bored of their quidditch conversation, and decided that they should pick on Harry. He looked up scowling, "Give me back my book." Harry growled.

"Oh look! What a peculiar sight Harry Potter with his nose in some stupid book!" Ron jeered, "What's this book even about," he paused trying to think of something clever, "stupid stuff?" The redhead looked very proud of himself for thinking of such a clever comment.

Harry shot him a look that made Antarctica seem like it was room temperature, "That book," he said, snatching the book from the other boy's hands, "is about wand woods, and what they mean. If you were literate, you could have just read the title." He pointed at the front of the book to emphasize his point, "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be finding a quieter compartment to read in." And with that, he left.

The raven-haired boy set off towards the other end of the train, trying to find a compartment quiet enough that he could just sit and read his book for the rest of the ride. Walking along the scarlet engines lengthy halls, looking inside every compartment he passed. He finally settled on one occupied by a first-year girl with rather bushy brunette hair reading a book, occasionally sending somewhat hopeful looks at the awkward looking boy with light skin and dirty blonde hair sitting across from her.

Knocking lightly on the door, startling both occupants of the compartment, Harry slid the door open, stepping into the room he held his hand out to the boy, and asked, "Harry Potter, how do you do?"

The boy looked like he was about to jump out the train window when the girl finally seemed to realize what he had said, and practically leaped up from her seat beginning a bit of a lecture, "Are you really?" She looked stunned for a moment before regaining her composure, "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

"Am I?" Harry said, feeling confused.

"Well of course you are, you are Jim Potter, _The_ _Boy-Who-Lived,_ aren't you?"

Harry's expression turned sour, "No," he hissed, "I am not the almighty Dark Lord vanquisher Jim Potter." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, "My name is Harry Charlus Potter, Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House Potter." At this he stuck his hand out at the girl, the sarcasm in his voice switched to venom, "How do you do?"

The girl stumbled a bit in surprise from his announcement, then proceeded to shake his hand speaking confidently, "Hermione Jean Granger, I am well, thank you for asking."

Harry turned to the boy sticking his hand back out, "And you are?"

The boy nearly shied away from his hand before standing up grasping Harry's hand and announcing, "Neville Harfang Longbottom, Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House Longbottom. This is my familiar," He reached into his robes before his face scrunched up in horror, "Trevor is gone! I had him when we got on the train. My Gran will kill me if she finds out I lost him!"

The girl – Hermione stood to comfort the boy, "It's okay Neville I'm sure if we ask around we could find him."

Harry reached a hand into his robes and pulled out his pale wand, he began to position it for a spell when Hermione practically exploded into a speech, "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then. I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and its all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough." She said all this very fast.

Harry was surprised she had bothered with their books, he had read all the course books up to fourth year before he got bored, and moved onto theory of spell crafting and wand lore – not much in the book stores about those subjects, but the Potter library was nothing if not rich with obscure information.

Hermione interrupted his train of thought by blurting, "Did you forget the incantation, or the movement, I've heard that -"

Before she went into another rant he began by placing his wand in his hand, the brunette quickly shut up, entranced by her own curiosity. He waved his hand over his wand incanting simply, "' _Vegvisir'_ Trevor the toad." His wand swiveled on his hand before pointing south-west of him.

The girl looked ready to launch into a tirade at this sight, but simply decided on, "Wh-Wha… How did you do that! That spell certainly wasn't in our course books, well of course I read of the point me spell, but it is just a compass, and also what was that incantation it didn't sound like Latin to me -"

Harry had a very smug look on his face while she was speaking before he opened his mouth to interrupt her inevitable rant, "It's a modification of the point me spell that I created, simple really just takes a bit of practice. I simply modified the incantation and intent of the spell, for my spell you pronounce ' _Vegvisir_ '. The effect my addition has on the spell, followed by the name of something you wish to find, will point in its direction. Unless of course it's under heavy warding. I've been working on the theory for nearly two years now, and I only just perfected the practical section of the spell."

Even though he made spell creation sound simple, if tedious in length, it was one of the most mentally challenging things he had done. Finding the right equation to properly activate the spell was absolutely exhilarating. He ended up modifying the spell with the movement of the wand from the ' _point me_ ' spell, the name identification with the ' _accio_ ' spell, and the incantation from Icelandic compass.

He looked towards Neville, jutting his thumb out in the direction the wand was currently pointing, "Shall we?"

Neville nodded his head before standing up to leave with Harry. Both boys stepped through the door, closely followed by Hermione. They walked for a few minutes before reaching the last car of the train where the restrooms were located. The toad was sitting in the very corner of the car next to the boys' restroom. They walked towards the toad, but quickly stopped when a pale and lanky boy with platinum blonde hair stepped out of the compartment to the left of the restrooms and picked up Trevor, stowing him in the pockets of his robes.

The blonde boy looked at the three of them in disgust, "Of course little Longbottom would have a toad. His Grandmother still wears a vulture on her hat." The ponce sniggered at that, "I'll bet she doesn't even know it's the twentieth century yet."

Harry stepped forward a bit, "Lady Longbottom's style of clothing may be old fashioned, but not out dated. Her hat is the sign of an accomplished huntress, and while it may look like one, the bird on Lady Longbottom's hat is not in fact a vulture. The creature on her hat is an augurey, or Irish phoenix. If I had to guess, one of the last of the creatures."

Draco blanched at the mention of the bird being an augurey, catching such a creature was a difficult feat, managed only by the most accomplished of hunters.

Harry noticed the loss of colour in Draco's face and smirked, "In any case, someone who's definition of political maneuvering is speaking the words 'My father' is in no position to insult the heir to a Most Ancient and Noble House such as the Longbottom's."

Draco turned bright red, "You'll pay for such insults to me _Potter!_ " Draco spat the last word before motioning for the two lard-like boys in his compartment to step out, "Crabbe, Goyle! These three insulted my honor. Make. Them. Pay."

The two much larger boys stepped forward from the compartment, attempting to move menacingly towards Harry, Hermione, and Neville, but it came off as an awkward trudge. They both raised their hands as though to hit the group, but before they could strike two identical voices shouted, " _Stupefy_!" At nearly the same time. The spells hit the meat bags before they could even turn around.

Boisterous laughter was heard from down the hall as the two chunks of flesh before them fell, revealing identical twins… Identical redheaded twins.

"Forge, did you see the way they tensed up- "

"I did indeed Gred."

"You didn't even let me- "

"I did not."

"You- "

"Did it again? I did."

"Oh, you are _so_ \- "

"I'd like to see you try Forge."

"You're Forge! I'm Gred."

"Am I?"

Harry was getting rather annoyed with the constant back and forth, so he decided he would introduce himself. Sticking his hand out he spoke, "You two must be Fred and George Weasley. I am Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."

Both Weasley twins looked at his hand before smashing their own to it, making a bit of a sandwich out of Harry's hand, before shaking it vigorously causing Harry to stumble forward a bit, "We are indeed the Weasley twins. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter." The boys confessed simultaneously

"Please, call me Harry. Mr. Potter is my Father's name, and frankly I'm not too fond of him."

During this conversation the blonde ponce was looking quite confused as to what had happened to his two henchmen. Putting on what he hoped to be an imposing expression Draco stepped up to the others in the hall and spoke, "My Father will hear about this!"

"Draco, Draco Draco." Harry intoned, emphasizing each word with a shake of his head, "When I told you that the words 'my father' weren't classified as political maneuvering I thought you may have known better than to use them in the very same conversation."

The Weasley twins fell over laughing at this. While Draco stood there, red in the face and unamused.

Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at Draco.

"Y-you wouldn't dare!" He stammered

"No, I wouldn't." He swished his wand in a loop before thrusting and twirling it simultaneously at Draco " _Accio_ Trevor the Toad!"

The Toad came flying out of Draco's robes and into Harry's hands, "Well, nice to meet you Draco." Harry bent over in a sarcastic bow, "Fred," he nodded, "George, have a wonderful train ride."

 **XXXX**

A voice bellowed from their right, "Firs' years over here!"

The gathered eleven-year-olds turned and stepped to the towering half-giant.

"Firs' years over here!" He repeated. He paused briefly and began to count them. Once he was finished he bellowed again, "Firs' years follow me!" The man moved to the beaten path directly behind him.

As the group walked the extremely beaten dirt road, they began to talk amongst each other in small groups. The idle chatter continued for what seemed like an eternity for Harry, Hermione, and Neville before they reached the edge of a very large, very dark lake.

The man up front turned exclaimed, "Welcome ta the Black Lake firs' years, Home ta Hogwarts very own gian' squid."

Hermione gasped at the mention of a giant squid before looking to the boats, her mind racing.

The man then gave instructions for each of the children to climb into the boats, no more than four to a craft. Hermione looked to Harry and Neville, "We're getting in tiny wooden boats to sail across a lake with a _giant squid in it_!" She nearly lost her mind right then.

Harry gave her an assuring look, "It'll be fine I've read that the giant squid is there to protect the students from the _other_ dangers of the lake."

Before Hermione could ask anything about the mentioned _other_ dangers of the lake, she was nearly pushed into a boat, closely followed by Harry, and Neville, they managed to obtain one of the few boats with only three people in it.

The boats began moving swiftly, cutting through the water like a hot knife through butter. The three descended into a similar silence as before. Comfortable to two of the three members of the boat. Before long, the boats rounded a curve and the Hogwarts castle was brought into light, as imposing and majestic as ever. Throughout the lake the only thing that could be heard were the 'oos' and 'aahs' of the children.

The boats docked and the many children were finally able to stretch their legs on the land again. They made their way to the front doors of the castle led by the large haggard man. As soon as they reached the doors they flew open presenting the group with a very stern looking witch with black hair and emerald green robes. The first thought to cross many minds was that this was _not_ someone you should cross.

"The firs' years, Professor Mcgonagall," said the oak of a man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

' _Oh! So that was his name.'_

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole Potter library in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was multiple stories high, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor Mcgonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear hundreds of voices from the doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be in here – but Professor Mcgonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," started Professor Mcgonagall. "The start-of-term-banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

Professor Mcgonagall continued to explain what it meant to be in a House, and how the points system works.

Afterwards she continued her long and drawling speech, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I Suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered on Jim's hair, and a smudge on Ron's nose.

The two didn't seem to care.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," The professor concluded, "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry could hear Neville swallow.

"How are they going to sort us? Fred and George said it would be by wrestling a troll, but I think they were joking." Ron didn't look to sure about himself.

There was a scoff. A familiar voice chimed in to the conversation, "Weasley, don't be an idiot, they would never allow a troll into the school. The castles wards would easily prevent such an idiotic breach in security. Father told me that while he was in school, the most dangerous thing that happened, was a Gryffindor's doing.

"As if you know anything Malfoy, you-"

Doors slammed open from behind the redhead, "Move along now," the voice cut through the silence like butter, "The sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned.

"Now. Form a line," her voice was the same no nonsense it always was, "and follow me."

Harry and Neville turned and formed a line, Hermione appeared behind Harry. They moved through the doors.

The great hall was a marvelous sight, thousands of candles floating along the tables, the ceiling reflecting the night sky above it. The tables themselves were littered with hundreds of golden plates and goblets.

Harry heard Hermione whisper from behind him, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_."

Harry already knew of course, the Potter library's copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ was extremely more detailed and extensive than most you could buy at Flourish and Blotts.

McGonagall left the room, and when she returned, she placed a four-legged stool in the middle of the hall. On top of the stool she placed an old and frayed wizard's hat. The hat sat silently holding the hall in suspense. Then, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim of the hat began to sing some ridiculous song about how the hat is more than it seems, and that all houses are a good place to go.

After the song, the whole hall burst into an applause. The hat bowed the tip of its hat to the four tables and then became quiet and still again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right of the hall cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the HufflePuff table.

And so, that is how the sorting went. Names were called out, some recognizable, some new. Bones, Granger, Malfoy, Finch-Fletchley, until finally McGonagall called out, "Potter, Harry!"

Harry stepped up to the stool, sat down, and lifted the hat onto his head. The hat's brim fell below his eyes. There was a moment before he heard a voice.

'Hmm, yes very interesting. Sharp mind. Very quick, never slow.'

Harry jumped a little in his seat, 'Ahh, the sorting hat… I read about you in _Hogwarts a History_. Is it true that you are unable to reveal the secrets of students?'

'Ah, Harry, no. I am not here to answer your inquiries. I was designed to inquire, and answer but one question.'

'And what is that question?'

'The question would be, Where to?"

'And the answer?'

'That is what I am to find.'

'You would be well in all houses, you are knowledgeable enough for Ravenclaw, but not quite the right piece for that puzzle, your thirst for knowledge is less for knowledge than it is for… power.'

'In Hufflepuff you would fit if not for the missing edge, no love for those unknown.'

'Gryffindor would reject you like an edge piece in the middle, and Slytherin would suit you were it not for your name. The peculiar piece of the puzzle, Harry Potter.'

'And so, where would you have me?'

'Where would you like?'

'Hermione has found her place in Ravenclaw has she not?'

'That she has.'

'Neville, in Gryffindor."

'That would be correct.'

'Hufflepuff is out. I do not play well with others…'

'I can see that.'

'If you can see that why would you not choose a place where I would fit.'

'Because you would not.'

'Pardon?'

'If I place you, you would not fit. You have to make the decision.'

'Well I guess that's it then.'

'What is?'

'You can read thoughts you know well what it will be.'

'That I do.'

The hat took a deep breath before opening its stitched mouth, "It'd better be…"

 **XXXX**

 **AN: If any of you have read the 1094 version of this chaptr that I posted before I updated, I am having issues with 's doc manager, as it will only take one page of my sotry. I was very surprised with the number of people who have followed, and favorited my story. I personally have contemplated completely changing the first chapter many times. It is truly one of the reasons I have not updated in what? Two months? Wow. It has been too long. I will hopefully find some kind of update schedule soon. For now, do not expect regular updates. I want to update soon, but you never know.**

 **Side note: I tried to improve upon my writing style. A lot. As far as I'm concerned, you can disregard the second part of the first chapter (The birthday party), not that it would make much of a difference on the story. The first chapter did hold a few good things to note about Voldemort and other such things. Any ways, I'm just rambling now. Make sure to review it might make me update sooner!**

 **Side-Side note: I have gotten myself a beta, he had some issues revising (he was busy) which just added onto the time before I could post this chapter. I am hoping that having a beta will greatly improve the quality of my story.**

 **Beta note: Sorry! I was dealing with family problems and a near broken ankle. Will be better about betaing on time, and hopefully doing a better job now that everything is resolved.**


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